Zacks Story
by CherryMiller
Summary: Boots tells everyone about his life and how he really felt about everything that happened through out hsi life. just a short story about how Boots Grew up since hes not really in any storys.


All the characters in this story belong to the Disney Corporation; I do not claim any of them except the ones I made up.

By: Sassafras Lei

On March 20, 1887 Alessa Blackton died from giving birth to her son Zackton McClean. Since I never knew my father, and my mother died, I was put in an orphanage, at a very young age. The Nuns always said I was cut out to be a newsie, hawkin' the headline wit' da others, on the streets of New York. I would sometimes watch them running the streets, or walkin' wit' dere goils around the city. Oh, how much I had longed to be out there wit' 'um, an' live a real life. I planed, and planed for months what I was gonna do when I's would finally get out. Then a few years before I was suppose to get out, I saw one of the older boys break out on his own, for the second time in two months, the place just couldn't hold dat kid. So I figured what da hay? It's worth a try right? So a few nights latah I try'd the same thing, an' boy did it surprise me. A few minutes latah I found myself on the streets of New York City, amazingly. I had no place to go for the night, and I's didn't know my way around the city yet; but it didn't bother me, this was were I wanted ta be, that was were I belonged. I was eight, and it was 1895, I found my way to the park some how, I don't even think I slept that night I was to excited 'bout bein' free. Morning came, and so did all the boys running down the streets again but from a different view this time, I was with 'um. I watched all of them go by, I was amazed, I only saw two other blacks in lower east Manhattan dough, an' it surprised me. Dat day I walked all of Manhattan tryin' ta decipher my new territory, an' all the details to it. I was looking up at a cretin building when I backed into someone, an' we both went tumbling to the ground.

"I's sahrry," I said, getting up slowly.

"It's ok, I've nevah seen ya before, yer new he'ah ain't cha?" a younger teen asked.

"Yah, do ya sell papes?" I blurted out fast courisley.

"Yes, do yous?" he asked looking at me. "No, but I'd like ta learn" I replied.

"Well, ya ran inta da right guy, I know all about dat stuff, da names Jack, Jack Kelly" he said, extending a hand.

"I'm Zack," "Come wit' me, I'll get ya started in da mornin'" Jack said.

"Awright" I said following him down the road.

That was how I made my very first friend on da streets; he got me a bed in the Manhattan lodging house, an' taught me how to sell papers, in less then a week flat. After two years I had gotten pretty good at sellin', an' knew all the guys pretty well by den. They gave me a nickname, they all called me Boots because I had a thing fer shinin' shoes in my spare time. That's was the year when Snipeshooter showed up, at the lodging house door cold, an' lookin' fer a place ta stay; not knowing anything about newsies. He was about my age at least around it, an' we quickly became best friends within two weeks. We always hung out ta gather, we had our fun along wit' are problems; we love ta scream as we ran down the streets; which sometimes seemed ta scare some people. Before we knew it two more years had past, and guys, and girls came, and went like that. The one thing that stands out in my mind right now though was the big strike, we had way back when. If I's remember right it was in the summer of 1899, I was twelve, and Pulitzer had just raised da prices of are papes, and boy did we raise hell over it. The Strike went on for two weeks, an' we finally won with the help of all the other newsies from the city. Including Spot as he lead the Brooklyn newsies, three thousand of 'um, amazing ta see so many ta gather. We had a few rallies, an' they did help to get the word out to all the sweat shop kids, as well as everyone else willing ta listen to us. It was amazin' we never thought we'd be able ta stop the Woild, not in a million years, but we did, and it felt great ta win. Then shortly aftah there came a new girl into the Manhattan lodgin' house, her name was Sugah. And what can I say, well Snipeshooter fell for her, den dey started goin' out soon aftah words. I was starting ta get board at the lodging house, 'cause now my best bud was pre- occupied with Sugah. Dis is nuthin' against her, she was great to him, an' everyone else, she was a sweet heart.

One day shortly after the turn of the century Jack left for Santa Fe, New Mexico like he had all ways and I's mean always dreamed of. Spot had gotten married, and so did Racetrack, they had a double wedding ta gather. So I lost most of my friends to girls, except I still hung out with Snipes once, an' a while, when he was free ta be himself. He always came ta me ta talk, an' I would go ta him if I need ta. In 1902 another girl showed up, I was fifteen, an' I had never thought love at first sight was true but believe it or not I fell in love with her. She had light brown skin, dark brown hair, and lighter gray eyes, her name was Lila. She got to know me, an' I got ta know her, we always hung out aftah dat; it was jus' like me an' Snipes we was always ta gather. Shortly after she became my goil, an' we sold papes together almost everyday. Lila also became best friends wit' Sugah, so the four of us were always tagether again; we pretty much were double dating. Jack came back when I was seventeen to visit, he was now married too a girl that dreamed as much as him, it was good to see him though. As the years went by, the guys left one by one; they all jus' seemed ta fade away wit' da time. Mush was gone he moved to Maine in search of something more. He wouldn't really come out an' say it. But I's think it was 'fore a reasonable young lady. Kid Blink left for Alabama, and found a goil out dere, an' they fell in love. Next thing I's heard was dat his goil was pregnant an' dey were suppose ta be gettin Then Skittery, he's around Queens somewhere he inherited an apartment building from an uncle he didn't know about 'till 'bout a year ago. It jus' seems like they all faded away as the time progressed to live in new places, soon enough me and, Snipes were the only ones left that were there for the strike. But we still saw Crutchy, Racetrack, and Spot every once and awhile, when they came by ta visit. It's really great to see the guys every now, an' den it brings back a lot of good memories I've been missin'. The years after that just seemed to fade into nuthin', everything was gone there were barley any newsies any more. It was amazing to be able ta see how everythin' would change within' the last or next five years. Now I think about it the last time I saw da whole group was back at da strike. I's think da strike was da big break away point fer all da guys; when most of dem realized dat dey wouldn't be able ta do dis fer evah. I missed all da guys 'cause aftah da strike they started movin' away, everyone was gone or goin'.

In 1910 I had just turned 23, and I was still together with Lila dat was great we was so in love back den. The year before dat Snipes had gotten married so I sort of got to see the most of the guys again. Dat was wonderful most of da guys I didn't think I'd evah see again, it was den dat I's realized jus' how much I's missed 'um all. The only ones dat didn't come were those really far away like Jack, an' Mush. Lila and me got married to that year in the Church she went to ever since she had shown up. I was in charge of the Manhattan lodging house by den, and it stayed that way until about 1915 when it closed, for re-modeling. So when I was twenty-eight we moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. That's were we've lived since.

Then in 1917 was the happiest time of my life I became a father to a little boy. Lila had a boy that we named Michael McClean, he looked just like her to, the same skin, eyes; but he was mine to, he had my nose an' chin. Our son had a great life at least better den either mine or Lila's, he had what he could call a family, and a place ta live, other den da streets like we had. As he turned 15 he got involved with a girl from Brooklyn two years older than him, the only problem with it was it was Spots daughter Jewel. I didn't bug him much about it, if he wanted to screw up his life it was his choice, his desion; I had been good 'bout lettin' him make his own choices. The only thing dat bothered me was what Spot thought about it, but it turns out he didn't care either. But he did wise up aftah a while, and he found another girl to hang with in his spare time he had.

Ok, 1945 I turned the big 58, and my son was grown up, and had moved in with his goilfriend, in upper Brooklyn. When I was sixty the most depressing day of my life came, the one I could of lived with out. Lila died on August eleveanth-1947, leaving me alone an' by myself once again. It killed me inside, she was my only reason to live now that Mike had left. After that I had nothing to live for so I worked, and waited for my time to go. Now im 72, its 1959, and some how I'm still in Manhattan, I've always lived he'ah, and I guess I always will its my home. I've been other places but New York's the only place for me, and always will be.

Boots closed his red book, and smiled sitting on his bed. He finally found out that his life wasn't as bad as he thought it to be before. It was true as he got older his skin did form wrinkles, but in his eyes you could still see the determination that he'd had when he first showed up at the lodging house in 1895.

"Nothing ever was what it seemed ta have been, ha! An' it seems now dat when I's was youngah I's took too much for granted. Well if only da guys could see me, and my life now" he said laying down, and that was it, there isn't anymore.

On November twentieth 1959, Zackton "Boots" McClean died of old age; he was buried right beside his wife in Manhattan.


End file.
